Il8 ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



the supply by encouraging the planters to cultivate the many thousands 

 of acres in the State available for this purpose? The objection to granting 

 leases in certain localities has been made that at one time (however remote) 

 natural beds of oysters existed, and that, perhaps, if the grounds were 

 allowed to remain idle they might be revivified and the natural growthers 

 again have an opportunity to gather the product. 



If this reasoning were good, it is still true that the. exhaustive meth- 

 ods of working which in times past denuded the lands would, if used again, 

 produce a similar result. An increase in the supply is not onlv possible 

 but inevitable under a wise system, and our sounds, bays and harbors 

 may be made to produce an immense food crop, and the industry should 

 take a place of importance among the wealth producers of our State. 



The ease with which land, for the purpose of shellfish cultivation, 

 may be had from the State is made apparent in the following extract from 

 a former report of the superintendent: 



' There are two classes of oyster planters: The first is represented 

 by the poor bayman who, without capital, cultivates a small piece of ground 

 by his individual labor, with possibly the assistance of some member of 

 his family or of a similarly situated ' partner.' There are many hun- 

 dreds of these who, by arduous toil, while subjected to constant hardship 

 and exposure, manage to wrest from the sand and mud of our bays and 

 harbors a frugal livelihood for themselves and families. The numbers of 

 this type are constantly increasing. Second, the planter with capital 

 sufricient to enable him to use every device and appliance necessary or 

 convenient to large operations, including the employment of well-manned 

 steamers equipped with steam dredges, starfish mops, etc., together with 

 extensive oyster houses where oysters are opened or otherwise prepared 

 for shipment and from whence the product is sent throughout the country 

 and indeed to all parts of the civilized world. 



" In beginning, or upon enlarging his business, the first care of the 

 planter is to select a tract of land under water which he believes to be 

 unappropriated and suitable for cultivation, marking out the boundaries 

 by stakes and buoys. He then consults the maps and records in the shell- 

 fish department of the Forest, Fish and Game Commission for the purpose 

 of determining that the lands in question are open to entry. He is now 



